Spring Race #5

Wednesday 6/9/2010 Puffy SE breeze between 12 and 25 knots. Current running in. All Divisions sailed to G, 26, and back to H. We arrived at the marina and saw a stiff SE breeze on the water. There was a light rain falling when we pulled out of the slip. It was blowing about 15-20 in the marina and we had to change out our jib. It was too windy to allow us to do it in the harbor, so we headed out to H and changed the jib out there. It was rough work as the waves were high and the wind was blowing at least 20 knots in the puffs. It took almost 15 minutes to get the old jib off and the new jib hooked up and rolled up. It had to be done since I was planning to go to Chelsea the following Saturday alone. Once the sails were setup, we headed over to the start area. No other C1 boats went out tonight. We were disappointed that there was no one to race against. While watching the first start, we saw Breakout shut Comet out at the starboard end of the line. This was interesting since Comet seemed to hang out too long before finally bailing and circling around to restart. Our start came up and no one was very close to the line. We started a conservative 10 seconds late since there was no competition and then sailed up the east side of the course. In short time, we made back the five minute head start on Hard Attack and Madame Baud. We rounded G and then enjoyed the nice run down to 26. Our jib should have been winged out, but I opted to roll it in and save some wear on it. Merlin winged out their jib and I was impressed. They were sailing the boat hard in tough conditions. Most of the A and B fleet flew their chutes as well, so it was nice to see competitive boats in other divisions sailing hard. We finished the race and then decided to sail around for a while. While the rain was not ideal, the wind was up and the boat was rocking around the bay. It was fun to be powered up and blasting through the waves and rain. My foul weather gear is 15 years old, but I can still get 3-4 solid hours out of it. So we sailed for another 1.5 hours after the race. As we sailed around, we saw Alineup and Summer Wind in a tight race. Summer Wind almost sailed by 26 before turning to weather. Alineup had a tougher time coming around 26. The wind was up and that part of the river had 3-foot rollers coming up river. After a few auto tacks, Alineup dropped their sails and withdrew from the race. That was the end of the racing. We made one more trip up to the committee boat before reaching back to the marina. Race Committee tonight was Rich Thabit on Three Sheets. Rich was RC three years ago when a nasty storm front hit the fleet and he had a rough time of it. Now the conditions were bad again, but Rich did a good job getting the race in. It was really cool to see him run the race in conditions he may not have raced in himself. He was not sure if enough boats would show up to warrant a race, but that should never be considered. As long as one boat shows up and the conditions are safe and acceptable, a race should be held. For the second week in a row, the C2 boats were hailed to ask if they were still racing. This is becoming a bad trend. Those guys are some of the most dedicated sailors out there and should not have to let the RC know they are still racing. The assumption should be that all boats that have not radioed in to withdraw are still racing. It really helps us to sail extra after each race. It is then that we can play with trim, switch roles, and try new things. We get a better feel for the boat when just sailing around and will improve our performance the next time we are out in foul weather. The best way to get better at sailing is to sail more. Since we had some decent gear on, the elements were not much of a factor. Sailing in all conditions can be fun and tonight was no exception. We had a couple of beers, hit some 7-knot speeds and had fun. I am looking forward to the next big breeze night.